Articles

When you feel like quitting, remember why you started

Linda Chaccour

Title: When you feel like quitting, remember why you started

Lance Armstrong said "Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever”

Sometimes, people get discouraged in life because things didn’t turn out the way they hoped. Maybe they put energy into a relationship, but it didn’t work out. They tried a new business venture, but they are still struggling with their finances. Now they think it is never going to happen. But one thing we have to learn is that LIFE honors perseverance. On the way to your "yes,” you may encounter some "no’s.” You may encounter some closed doors, but that doesn’t mean it’s the final answer. It just means "keep going.”

Here are 8 strategies to keep you going and not quitting:

Equip yourself by the power twins: faith and patience. They both build confidence and strength to your character. Just because you don’t see things happen right away doesn’t mean you should quit. No, instead, rise up and press forward. Believe in your "WHY”, keep hoping because if you adopt an "I won’t quit mindset” you will find yourself persisting when things get tough till you achieve your goal. Remember that the bamboo plant spends five years just growing its roots.

Stay focused and remember your "WHY”. Whenever you put your mind to something, it is essential to identify the reasons of why you want it. If you discover that you don’t have a strong enough "why” for a particular goal, it is probably a good idea to discard it. when the going gets tough it is your "WHY” that will keep you going and the stronger is your "WHY” the more likely you won’t quit.

Change your strategy if need be. If the approach that you are currently using is not working, try a different approach. Keep changing and finding different alternatives for your "How” until you find a method, technique, or strategy that does work. Sometimes wanting to give up is just a sign that a different approach is needed.

Change your perspective / meaning of failure. If you fail as you try to achieve your goal, instead of using that failure as an excuse to quit, use it as a stepping stone. We Grow through Failing. By failing, we learn from our mistakes, make the necessary changes and keep moving forward. After all we all love to be rewarded, and when you have been putting a lot of efforts toward the achievement of a goal for a long time, but your efforts haven’t resulted in any rewards you’ll probably be tempted to quit. One way to stop yourself from quitting is to channel your focus in doing something else that you know will be rewarded for.

Be grateful for what you have achieved so far and believe that setbacks are temporary. Believe that every day you gain more knowledge and insights about what works and what does not, which means you are getting stronger and wiser.

Surround yourself with family and supportive friends. Get inspired from someone else who already persevered, someone who already faced challenges, wanted to give up and overcame obstacles but refused to quit. Learn from them, their strategies and what kept them going on. And don’t forget to allocate time for exercise, fun and enough sleep so you can always recharge.

Sustain momentum by introducing rituals. Rituals are the little things that you do each day that create momentum to reach your goals. Building rituals requires defining precise behaviors and actions to be performed at specific times motivated by deeply held values. Initiating rituals is often difficult but maintaining them is easy. Introduce no more than 2 rituals at a time.Make sure they become habits before introducing new ones.

Visualize to realize. Review your vision and make sure to feel it every day. It could be a career move, a new relationship, business expansion… for anything you want to attract in your life you need to think constantly about it so it becomes a part of you. It is crucial to believe that it is possible and a must for you because we, as human beings, only follow through on what we believe we are.

When you want to quit, push yourself to be consistent with your actionsand remember that just because you cannot see anything yet, this doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. You may be closer to achieving your dream than you think. Remember to stay focused on your vision and what you would like to achieve, all journeys have ups and downs, no one said success is easy to achieve however it is worth it. Persistence is the secret as well being consistent with your purpose